Part One of this book gave a picture of the sort of men who were in command of the ships of the six Chambers. This picture contained information about their geographical origins, their family backgrounds, their financial circumstances and their rise in social status in the towns in which they lived. It was also possible to catch a glimpse of their administrative and commercial activities after they had retired from the sea, if they happened to become involved in such matters once they settled on land. This information has helped to produce a multifaceted picture of how eighteenth-century Company commanders lived ashore. However, many never returned home but died overseas or during their voyages to the East. Nearly one in six of the commanders have been mentioned, either in the text or in the notes, more from some Chambers than others.

The focus of Part Two is the Company commander in the performance of his duties. The procedures which were followed for the appointment of a commander are discussed in Chapter 9. Each director of a Chamber took his turn to make a nomination of a man he wanted to sponsor. Ship’s officers had to sit a whole series of examinations before they were able to present themselves as candidates for an appointment as commander. These examinations are the theme of Chapter 10, which also includes some discussion about the new names proposed for the existing ranks and the ways in which a commander acquired his professional expertise. In Chapters 11 and 12, the financial side of the profession of commander is investigated. It begins with a discussion of normal earnings and then various aspects of private trade carried on by these men are sifted through. This is followed by an assessment of the commander’s role on board, in which particular attention is paid to his accommodation in the stern, his social life and the host of vicissitudes which were inseparable from departures, arrivals and returns.

Of course, the Company ships were not always safe or soundly constructed. Every so often, these points were discussed extensively in the meetings of the Heren Zeventien, in the Chambers, by the master shipwrights and by the commanders themselves.